Job Description

Pioneering cancer bereavement support charity

The organisation

6,450 people are bereaved by cancer a day in the UK. 20% of people affected by this will require specialist support in dealing with their grief. The Loss Foundation is the only UK charity which is dedicated to providing bereavement support following the loss of someone to cancer. Established in 2010 by Clinical Psychologist Dr Erin Hope Thompson, she founded the charity after witnessing and experiencing the lack of support available following the death of her Father in 2008.

In 2017 the charity helped 350 people with in-person support, and another 27,000 via email, telephone and online support. However, the foundation is now embarking on an ambitious goal to become a nationwide reaching charity so that everybody bereaved by cancer in the UK has access to support.

At its heart, the foundation is providing accessible and varied support to people bereaved by cancer and helping them learn to compassionately support themselves, carrying out research to learn best practice in grief support. It is creating a national pathway of cancer bereavement support for people at any point after their loss.

The opportunity

We are proud of our growth and evolution over the past eight years, but we know we could do better – the majority of people across the country still get no support. And yet we know that social isolation increases the risk of mental health issues and suicidal ideation.

We are now looking to design and launch a service that will allow us to serve more people than we ever could in person. We are going to take what we have learned about supporting people really well in person and expand it across the country using digital technology. The aim is to create a pathway of support that is not limited by geography, so people never have to hear that there's no support for them (which is what so many people currently hear). For example, creating relationships with our users and sending them resources to help them along the way, helping connect people in their local areas, and more.

In order to make this happen, we are looking to recruit a Chair who will provide the leadership and support needed to make our ambitions a reality.

To find out more about us and who we're looking for at this crucial stage in our development, please visit our recruitment partner, Trustees Unlimited